Slug-changing press



May 8, 1956 "ERZERA 2,744,347

SLUG-CHANGING PRESS Filed Aug. 12, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JAMES VERZERA May 8, 1956 VERZERA 2,744,347

SLUG-CHANGING PRESS Filed Aug. 12, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN 0R. JAMES VERZERA w ,ZW MQL United States Patent SLUG-CHANGING PRESS James Verzera, New York, N. Y., assignorto Olsenmark Corporation, a corporation of New York Application August 12, 1954, Serial No. 449,340

4 Claims. (Cl. 41--7) This invention relates to apparatus for marking of articles of plastic, wood, leather, cloth, paper or other similar material, and more particularly to a new and improved slugor type-changing device that is useful among other things for changing type on presses embodying hot leaf stamping or marking procedures.

Heretofore, apparatus for stamping or marking articles such, for example, as advertising novelties, personal articles, tools and the like with, for example, personalizing indicia such as individual names or the like consisted of a suitable power press with means for holding one or more rows of type slugs or other imprinting device. Changing of the type slugs has heretofore been accomplished by hand, as the type must be carefully aligned and registered in the printing head, much time was lost, especially in cases where small quantities of articles were to be marked with different indicia. In the case of hot leaf marking wherein the type or slug carrying the indicia is heated for the purpose of effecting adherence between a foil and the material being marked to produce metalized or colored lettering, slug changing procedures were even more difficult with the result that hot leaf marking constituted a relatively expensive procedure. One of the objects of this invention therefore is to overcome the delays entailed with prior manual slug changing procedures through the provision of new and improved apparatus which functions to eject one slug and insert another in proper position for printing. This procedure is accomplished without manual handling of the type and can be effected entirely automatically if desired.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of apparatus that will greatly speed up hot leaf stamping processes and enable them to be placed on a production basis. To this end, this invention includes heated slug feeding means associated and coordinated with slugchanging apparatus so that each slug prior to insertion into the head of the press is unmarred as to its type face and is at the desired temperature for hot leaf operation when delivered to the printing head. In this way little or no delay is encountered with type changes and the printing of different indicia on small groups of articles or even individual articles can be accomplished rapidly and at greatly reduced costs.

The above and other objects and advantages will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming part of this application.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1 and 2 are perspective views of an automatic slug-changing power press embodying the invention and showing, in Fig. 1, the parts in slug-changing position, and, in Fig. 2, the parts in stamping position;

i Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a fragmentary part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of slug-feeding and slug-changing apparatus in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of Fig. 4 taken along the line 5-5 thereof and Fig. 6 is an enlarged view in side elevation of the slug clamping jaw of the apparatus of Figs. 4 and 5.

Referring now to the drawings and more specifically to Figs. 1 and 2, the power press comprises a base plate or bed 10, a U-shaped vertically disposed frame 11 with one leg 12 horizontally disposed and secured to the bed 10 and the other leg 13 upwardly inclined at a convenient angle and fixedly supporting at its free end a head-assembly 14 (Fig. l). A printing table 15 for supporting the articles to be marked is adjustably supported for limited vertical movement by a vice clamp 16 having an elevation screw 17 and a locking screw 18. This enables the table to be adjusted vertically over a suitable range to accommodate articles of different thicknesses. The reciprocable head-assembly 14 of the press includes a stationary housing-part 19 slidably reciprocably receiving a shaft 29 carrying a reciprocable head 21 on the lower end thereof.

Vertical displacement of the head 21 as from the slugchanging position in Fig. l to the stamping position in Fig. 2, is accomplished pneumatically by means of a piston-cylinder assembly of which the cylinder 22 is pivotally attached to the base 10 by means of a bracket 23 and pin 24. The piston rod 25 is coupled to one end of.

a bell-crank lever 26 carried by a shaft 27 which, in turn, is journalled to and carried by the U-shaped frame part 11. The bell-crank lever 26 is suitably coupled by means of a pair of pitrnans 28 and a suitable bell-crank pitman linkage indicated at 2% (Fig. 3) to the plunger Zll to raise and lower the head 21, the raised position of the head being shown in Fig. 1 and the lowered position in Fig. 2. To lower the head, fluid, preferably air, is applied to the cylinder 22 under closely regulated pressure, via an air inlet duct 22. Raising of the head is accomplished automatically after a suitable timer-controlled dwell period, by release of the fluid pressure. Springs 30 connected between the stationary housing part 19 of the head assembly 14 and the reciprocable head 21 serve to control the rate of movement of the head 21.

When the press as described above is used for hot leaf marking, a spool 31 carrying rolled leaf 32 in continuous strip form, is mounted on a spindle 33 that is in turn secured to the head 21 by means of a pair of side brackets 34 of which only one is illustrated. The leaf strip is fed downwardly over a guide bar 35 and then beneath the head to a suitable automatically driven takeup spool (not shown) that may be disposed in any suitable position behind themarking head. In this way the rolled leaf is carried by the head and may be automatically fed beneath the head so that a new section of foil is positioned beneath the imprinting means or indicia-carrying slug for each article imprinted.

In order to effect rapid changes of preheated slugs 36 so that delays in the imprinting operation may be of short duration, the press is provided with slug storing and feeding means 37 and an automatic chuck 38 for receiving and holding slugs at the underside of the head 21. More specifically the slug feeder 37 includes a slug hopper 39 having an upstanding forward wall 40 by which it is mounted on a U-shaped guide channel to be described more fully hereinafter, so that the hopper slopes upwardly to the rear of the press as is best seen in Figs. 1 and 2. The slugs 36 are stacked on the bottom face 40' of the hopper and retained in the hopper with the indicia upward, by a fixed side guide 41 and art-adjustable side guide 42 movable toward and away from the guide 41, for accommodating slugs of different lengths.

The transfer of the slugs 36 from the ;hopper 39 intov and out of the chuck 18 is accomplished by means of a U-shapcd and integral channel formed essentially of three spaced guide elements 43, 44 and 4-5 having the slug guide channels 43', 44' and 45, respectively. The elements 44 and 45 are spaced apart but are connected by an integrally formed rear wall part 46; and the elements 43 and 44 are spaced apart and connected by an integrally formed front wall part 47. The guiding elements 43 and 44 on each side of the hopper 39, are longitudinally spaced at sufiicient distance to accommodate the longest slugs 3-6 that may be used in the apparatus, and the front connecting wall part 47 lies flush against and is secured to the forward wall of the hopper. Thus, the leading or bottom-most of the slugs 36 is always in line with the channel 44 in the U-shaped element 44. The elements 44 and also are longitudinally spaced a sufficient distance to accommodate the chuck 38 therebetween, and are secured to the underside of the head 21 by means of a beveled plate 43 detachably secured to these elements as by screws 49 and adjustably retained within a complementary recess 48' in the head 21.

The chuck 38 is disposed between the U-shaped elements 4-4 and 45 and is suitably keyed to a shaft 50 pivoted at one end in the base of the guide element 44 and at the other end in the guide element 45. With this arrangement the chuck can oscillate between the inclined slug-changing position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 and the vertically disposed marking position shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. Angular displacement of the chuck between these positions is effected automatically by means of a pinion gear 51 which is keyed to the projecting end of the shaft 50 and engages a vertically disposed stationary rack 52. The rack terminates at its upper end in a rod 52', Fig. 2, of reduced diameter which is slidably, telescopically received within a hollow adjusting screw 53 threadedly received within a vertically disposed internally threaded socket member 53 secured in turn at its upper end to a fixed cantilever arm 54 forming part of the head assembly 14. A pair of coil springs 55 yieldably coupling the socket member 53 and the rack 52 to each other serves to hold the rack 52 in the upper position shown in Fig. 3. In order to maintain positive engagement of the pinion 51 with the rack 52 a bearing sleeve 56 slidably surrounds the rack 52 and is provided with a pair of bearings 57 and 58 which engage the shaft 50 with the pinion gear 51 disposed therebetween. It will be apparent that as the head 21 is moved downwardly, it will carry with it the entire slug-changing assembly including the chuck 38 and the shaft 50. At the same time the pinion gear 51 in moving downwardly on the relatively stationary rack 52 will be rotated and will cause rotation of the shaft 50 along with the chuck 38 so that when the chuck arrives at its lowermost position, the slug holding channel 38 of the chuck will be vertically disposed, as shown in Fig. 5. In order to insure proper positioning of the chuck and allow for different article thicknesses and heights of the table 15, the rack and pinion ratio is such that the chuck is rotated to the downward position shown in Fig. 5 during the initial phase of movement of the head. When the channel 38' is in the downward vertical position, rotary motion of the chuck is halted by the bearing sleeve 56 abutting a stop member 52" on the rack 52, and continued movement of the head 21 extends the rack 52 downwardly as shown in Fig. 2 relative to the adjusting screw 53. The springs 55 yieldably oppose this extension and serve to restore the rack and adjusting screw to their initial telcscoped position on the return movement of the head 21.

In order to hold a slug 36, carrying indicia along one edge thereof, firmly within the slug channel 38' of the chuck 38, a spring loaded clamping jaw 59 is slidably disposed for in and out movement within a cooperating slot 60 in the leg 38" of the U-shaped chuck 38. The jaw 59 is forced inwardly by a coil spring 61 carried by a pin 62 bridging the slot 60 above the clamping jaw. Legs 61' and 61 of the spring 61 engage the outer surface of the jaw 59 and tend to urge it inwardly toward the other leg 38 of the chuck, thereby to enable clamping of a slug 36. Guide lugs 59' and 59" at the respective opposite ends of the chuck are of a length to permit the full necessary inward and outward movement of the jaw in the slot 60. Recesses 46 and 46" in the connecting wall 46 of the guide channel are suitably located to receive the outer ends of the lugs 59 and 59", respectively, when the jaw is in its slug clamping position. In order to limit the extent of outward movement of the guide lug 59 of the jaw 59, the Lug is provided with a transverse slot 63 which is traversed by a cooperating pin 64 carried by the chuck 38.

From the above it is apparent that with the head 21 of the press in a raised position as in Fig. 1, the chuck 38 will be aligned with the slug guiding elements 44 and 45 and thus permits slugs to be moved from the hopper directly into the chuck. Should a slug be in the chuck the new slug being inserted will automatically move the previous lug into the slot in element 45 from which it may be readily removed by the operator.

While the transfer of slugs in sequence from the hopper 39 through the slug-guiding element 44 to the chuck 38 may be accomplished by hand, the use of piston-cylinder pneumatic means is preferred. For this purpose a cylinder 65 having fluid inlet and outlet openings 66 and 67 is supported from the element 43 by means of an elongated cantilever arm member 68 secured at one end to the element 43 and at its other end to a bracket unit which, in turn, is secured to and supports the cylinder unit 65. The channel 43' in the guide element 43 is capped by a reinforcing fitting 69 and is narrower than the channels 44' and 45 since it serves merely to guide a slug push rod of fixed thickness. The bracket 70 also includes a guide channel 72 corresponding in size to the channel 43 and aligned longitudinally with the channels or guide ways in the elements 44 and 45. This channel 72 in the bracket 70 together with the channel or guideway 43 in the element 43 slidably snugly receives a pusher bar 73 whose working end is adapted to engage the near end of the lowermost of the stack of slugs 36 in the hopper 39 and transfer it from the hopper into the chuck 38 via the guide channel 44 in guide element 44. Translation of the pusher bar to efiect the transfer of a slug is accomplished by a piston 71 acting on the pusher bar through a clamp 74 which is coupled at its bottom to the end of the piston rod and secured adjustably at its top to the parallelly-disposed pusher bar 73. As fluid is admitted into the inlet opening 66 of the cylinder 65, the piston rod 71 is moved to the left as viewed in Fig. 4 and carries with it the pusher bar 73. The pusher bar engages one slug of type at a time, moves it through the channel 44' in element 44 and into the channel 38' of the chuck 38. When this is accomplished the pusher bar 73 is retracted by the piston 71 and the press is ready to function.

The final terminal position of the working end of the push bar 73 can be determined by the longitudinal setting of the pusher bar 73 relative to the clamp '74 carried on the end of the piston rod 71. Thus as viewed from the front of the machine the lateral adjustment of the type slugs in the chuck slot 33 can be accurately and precisely controlled.

In hot leaf marking processes it is important to maintain the slugs 36 at an elevated temperature in order to secure a positive bond between the foil or leaf 32 and the material of the article being imprinted. For this purpose a heater 75 is provided on the underside of the hopper 39 and includes a thermostat that is adjustable by means of a knob 76. While it is preferable to employ electrical energy for heating the hopper 39 any other suitable heating means may of course be used. In many instances a number of articles may be imprinted with the same slug 36 and it is therefore also important to maintain the slugs at an elevated temperature while they are within the chuck 38. This is attained by a suitable electrical heating element disposed within the head 21 with the electrical connections 77 being brought out of one side thereof. The temperature of the head may of course be controlled by' any suitable thermostatic means. The heat generated within the head is transferred to the chuck by means of the beveled plate 48, the wall member 46, elements 44 and 45 and the central shaft 50. In addition when the chuck is in the raised position one surface thereof lies substantially flat against the wall 46 during which time heat may be transferred directly from the wall to the chuck. With this arrangement it has been found that the temperature of the slugs within the hopper 39 and the slug within the chuck 38 can be readily maintained at the desired operating temperature at all times so that even with changes of type, time will not be lost in bringing successive slugs to the operating temperature.

While the embodiment of the invention as described above materially reduces the time required for effecting a change in the imprinting slugs and thereby enables the printing of small quantities of articles to be imprinted on a production basis, it-also materially speeds up hot leaf marking of articles since the slugs can be quickly and easily changed without damaging or in any way injuring the delicate foil used in the process; In addition the indicia on the slugs is completely protected against abrasion from the hopper bottom 40' since the slugs are placed in the hopper with the indicia upwardly and out of contact Withany rubbing surface. While automatic control apparatus has not been disclosed it is quite apparent that any suitable means may be used. to control the operation of the cylinders 22 and 65 and the slugs can be automatically changed to imprint predetermined quantities of articles with different indicia on each successive quantity.

Although only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described it is apparent that changes, modifications and alterations may be made therein without departing from the true scope and spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. Imprinting apparatus for articles comprising means including a reciprocable imprinting head for marking said articles, an elongated U-shaped chuck for holding an indicia-carrying slug rotatably secured to said head, a U-shaped guiding element on each side of said chuck and carried by said head, said guiding elements being positioned with the legs thereof inclined upwardly, means associated with said apparatus and said apparatus and said chuck for moving the chuck from a position in alignment with said guiding elements to an imprinting position with its legs extending downwardly, an inclined hopper for holding a plurality of slugs with the indicia upward and in parallel alignment with said chuck, and means including a pusher rod and actuating means therefor for moving the slugs individually from said hopper through one of said guiding elements and into said chuck when the latter is in said inclined position.

2. Imprinting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said chuck includes spring loaded means for holding a slug therein.

3. Imprinting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means associated with said apparatus and said chuck comprises a rack attached to said apparatus, a gear coupled with said chuck and engaging said rack, and means for limiting the rotation of said chuck to effect accurate positioning thereof in the imprinting and slug re- 1 ceiving positions.

4. Imprinting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said chuck and guiding elements are adjustable relative to said head, and said chuck and hopper include means for maintaining the slugs at a predetermined elevated temperature.

Elliott Mar. 31, 1936- 

